Max (2002)

Max is a 2002 British-Hungarian-Canadian fictional drama film, that depicts a friendship between a Jewish art dealer, Max Rothman, and a young Austrian painter, Adolf Hitler. The film explores Hitler's views which began to take shape under Nazi ideology; while also studying the artistic and design implications of the Third Reich and how their visual appeal helped hypnotize the German people. The film goes on to study the question of what could have been if Hitler had been accepted as an artist. The film was the directorial debut of Menno Meyjes, who also wrote the film.

Synopsis

The year is 1918, and Max Rothman (John Cusack), a fictional Munich art dealer, is a veteran of the Third Battle of Ypres, where he lost his right arm during the latter stages of World War I, effectively ending his career as a painter. He returns to Germany and opens a modern art gallery. He is married to Nina (Molly Parker), but also has a mistress, Liselore von Peltz (Leelee Sobieski). Through a chance encounter, Rothman is approached by a young Adolf Hitler (Noah Taylor), a war veteran as well, disgruntled over Germany's loss during the conflict and the country's humiliation by the signing of the Versailles Treaty; Hitler wishes to have his artwork drawings displayed.

Actors